Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Cuts Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC trimmed its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,357,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 37,279 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for 2.0% of Beck Mack & Oliver LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC owned approximately 0.66% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $106,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $469,518,000 after buying an additional 3,677,233 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $421,882,000 after buying an additional 2,094,191 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,029,000 after buying an additional 1,437,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $415,031,000 after buying an additional 1,127,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF traded up $1.50 on Thursday, hitting $46.73. 605,320 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,017,200. The business's 50 day moving average price is $54.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.17. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.29.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.